Story: Jenny's Bath   
      
         Chapter 1 "Splish, Splash, I was taking a bath."   
      
      
      
       "You want me to what?" I exploded.   
      
       Linda shrugged and explained again.  And again.  And once more for good   
   measure.   
      
       "You're sure about this?" I asked again.  She nodded tiredly.  "And Dave   
   is cool?" She nodded again.  I shrugged and agreed.   
      
       A little later I took the girls to Dairy Queen for cones, then to my   
   place for some TV.  They settled down to watch `Totally Spies' and   
   `Dexter's Laboratory'.  I went into the bathroom and started filling the   
   bath tub.  I had some bubble bath left over from an old girlfriend and I   
   added a handful.   
      
       When the tub was full of warm water and brimming with bubbles I went   
   back into the living and plucked Diana from the sofa, her sister's didn't   
   even seem to notice.  I carried her, tucked under one arm to the bathroom   
   and set her on the floor.  She'd been so startled that she hadn't said a   
   word.   
      
       "You..." I said, pointing at her, "...bath..." I said with a sweeping   
   motion toward the tub, "...now." I added with a handclap.  She giggled.   
   "Wash good, and wear a towel when you're done.  Your mom's bringing clean   
   cloths in an hour or so." I finished normally.  Diana giggled again and   
   started to pull her t-shirt over her head before I could scoot out of the   
   room.   
      
       I went back to the living.  Carrie had taken over the sofa and Jennifer   
   was sprawled on the floor, both with eyes glued to the TV.  I shook my head   
   and went to my desk to catch up on some paperwork, I was an independent   
   real estate appraiser and never ever really caught up.   
      
       Dave and Linda had been good friends for years.  Unfortunately Dave had   
   been unemployed for almost nine months about the same time that Linda's   
   hours got cut way back, and they had some bill problems.  The mortgage was   
   the biggest one and last month they lost the house, even though Dave had   
   just got hired at the mill.   
      
       It could have been worse, a lot of families wound up living in their car   
   or even a box, Dave and Linda had a travel trailer.  A fourteen foot travel   
   trailer.  Imagine for a moment, two adults, three girls, one almost a   
   teenager, and a large collie all living in a fourteen foot travel trailer,   
   then talk to me about cruel and unusual punishment because of overcrowded   
   prisons.   
      
       Then just to top things off, the showers at the trailer park had been   
   broken for a week, which is how `Uncle" Paul wound with the three girls and   
   bath time.   
      
       Diana at eight was no trouble.  About fifteen minutes later she came out   
   of the bathroom wrapped in a large beach towel, sarong style, with a   
   smaller towel wrapped turban style over her hair.  Her bare arms and   
   shoulders had the pink glow from being washed hard.  I patted her turban as   
   she walked toward my recliner and I went to clean up the bathroom.   
      
       The bathroom looked like an eight year old had just had a bath.  There   
   was water everywhere.  I take that back, there was one spot in front of the   
   sink that was miraculously dry.  I wiped down the floors and drained the   
   tub.  From the look of the water, you'd think the kid just had an oil   
   change.  Then I refilled the tub, added more bubble bath and went to   
   collect the next victim.   
      
       Carrie was still laying on the sofa, her feet on the armrest, so I   
   grabbed the feet and lifted.  "Hey." she shouted.  Her sisters looked at   
   her suspended in the air then went back to Dexter and his lab.   
      
       I carried her inverted to the bathroom.  Once inside, I considered   
   dunking her head first, but decided to be nice, and righted her and set her   
   down.  "Your mom says she can't stand your pigpen act one more night."   
      
       "Pigpen?" she asked.   
      
       "Pigpen." I repeated, "You know, Charlie Brown, Snoopy, Pigpen." She   
   looked blank, I guess Pokeman and others had done in the old classics.  I   
   pointed at the water and she nodded.  I gave her the instructions about her   
   dirty cloths and left her alone.  Ten year olds need their privacy.   
      
       When I went back into the living room I stood behind Diana in the   
   recliner and watched Dexter for a few minutes.  I didn't get it.  Beneath   
   me, Diana had pulled off her turban and was drying her long blond hair.   
   The girls couldn't look less like sisters, Diana was a blond, Jennifer was   
   a brunette and Carrie had flaming red hair.  They were all cute but in very   
   different ways, Diana was small boned and petite, and Carrie had an   
   athletic build.  Jennifer was somewhere in the middle.  Diana had long hair   
   that almost reached her waist and Carrie was so short it almost looked   
   boyish, and again Jennifer was in the middle with medium length hair that   
   just touched her shoulders.  As I watched Diana dry her hair I noticed some   
   red marks on her shoulder.  "Lean forward." I instructed and pushed her   
   forward a little.  Three deep scratches started at the top of her shoulder   
   blade and disappeared under her towel.  "I'm going to look under here." I   
   told her, and pulled the towel away from her back.  The scratches extended   
   halfway down her ribs.  "How did you do that?" I asked.   
      
       "Do what?" she asked as she sat back and looked up at me.   
      
       "That." I said and pressed down on one of the scratches.   
      
       "Oww." She complained and tried to look over her shoulder but of course   
   couldn't.  I had a small angled mirror among my tools that I used to look   
   at inconvenient places in houses, and I handed it to her.  She held it up   
   over her shoulder and looked down at her back.  "Wow.  I don't know." she   
   shrugged.   
      
       The scratched looked fresh, so I figured she's done it sometime today. I   
   went to the bathroom and knocked.   
      
       "Yes." Carrie called out.   
      
       "Could I come in for a minute?" I asked, "I won't look."   
      
       "No problem." she called back, "I'm covered in bubbles anyway."   
      
       I walked in and she was laying back against the edge of the tub with   
   bubbles up to her neck.  "I could stay like this forever." she moaned.   
      
       "Well, don't forget to wash." I reminded.  "After all, that's why you're   
   here." I said as I looked through my cabinet for the aloe vera.   
      
       She leaned forward and the bubbles started moving around over what I   
   thought were her legs.  I found the aloe vera and started toward the door.   
   She leaned back and the bubbles didn't move with her so that now her chest   
   was bare.  She didn't notice, but I couldn't help but notice that here flat   
   chest had started to get a little puffy and that she actually had nipples.   
   "Uncle Paul, can I do this again tomorrow?" she asked as she rubbed her   
   belly with a wash cloth.   
      
       "If it's okay with your mom, it's okay with me."   
      
       "How about the next day?"   
      
       "You're pushing it." I told her.   
      
       "Pleasssssse."   
      
       I've always ben a sucker for a long drawn out `please'.  "I don't mind   
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)